Island



(No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 1.

- I E. T. POTTER.

PORTABLE 0R SEOTIONAL BUILDING.

Patented Apr. 8, 1890.

2 t 8 .e h S v 1.. 9 Buy h S 2 R E T T O P T H (No Model.)

PORTABLE 0R SBGTIONAL BUILDING.

No. 425,250. Patented Apr. 8, 1890.

co mnvmuma wasnmorau u n UNITED STATES PATENT UEEICE.

EDWARD T. POTTER, on NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.

PORTABLE OR SECTIONAL BUILDING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 425,250, dated April 8,1890.

Application filed April 29, 1889. Serial No. 309,018. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD T. POTTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newport, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable orSeetional Buildings, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part ofthe same.

This invention relates to what are known as portable or sectionalhouses-that is to say, structures composed of independent parts orsections which may be put together and taken apart at will andtransported from place to place. Heretofore such structures have beenconstructed to be used independently, each one forming a completebuilding or structure, and without reference to its adaptability for usein conjunction with others to form a larger or taller structure with noloss of space.

My invention has for its object to provide a portable house or roomwhich, while adapted for use independently and forming in itself acomplete structure, is capable of being combined with one or more othersto form without loss of space a dwelling or other structure of anyrequired capacity and with rooms either all on one floor or one abovethe other in stories.

In carrying out my invention I have designed a building of a form andsize which best adapt it for combination with others in making up acomplexstructure, at the same time constructing it in such manner thatit will be weather and water proof without preventing any obstruction tothe assemblage with it of other and similar structures. In order to moreperfectly accomplish this, I set in the upper portion of each structurethe trusses or girders upon which the floor beams or boards of eachstructure or room rest. The depth of such trusses or girders should beabout three feet, and the height of the set-in or smaller part of eachroom should be about the same, so that one may be fitted down over theother without loss of space and without interference with theweather-proof qualities of the room below; but in order to save materialin the construction of these the upper.

rooms and not to make a single room or structure of any greater strengththan is necessary I havedevised a means of support which may beincreased in strength as required, and this without altering theexterior shape or dimensions of the structure, so as not to impair itsadaptability for being grouped with others, either above it or on itssides. For this purpose I use supports, preferably in the corners onlyof the structures, consisting of one or more angle-plates .of iron orother material, the number of which is increased in proportion to thenumber of rooms or stories which the lower rooms have to sustain.

The details of this invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

Figure 1 is a side view of my improvement, illustrating a verticalgrouping of the structures. Fig. 2 is a top plan View of one of theportable rooms. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the same. Fig. 4 is aperspective and Fig. 5 an end view of one of the supports. Fig. 6 is an.enlarged vertical section of a room with a portion of a superposed room.Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of a part of the structure on line as 0:,6; and Fig. 8 is a similar view on line 3 y, Fig. 6. Fig. 9 is a view ofa detail enlarged. I

If only a single room is required, I employ as supports for the floo1-beams, roof, and other parts of the structure single angle posts orplates A, which I prefer to place in the four corners only. If such roomis to form a part of a more complex structurefor instance, composed oftwo rooms one above the other-I use two angle-posts A and B for thelower room and one angle-post A for So if the structure is to contain,say, seven tiers of rooms, I use seven posts or plates, such as shown inFigs. 4 and 5, for the first tier, six for the next, and so on.

These columns, it will be observed, may be built up or reduced from theinside, and only so many plates are used in any room as are necessary tosustain the weight of the room or rooms above. To secure the plates orposts together, I employ bolts 0, passing through them andscrew-threaded to receive a nut D.

I have found that these bolts are most advantageously used and appliedwhen passing through the several plates at their angle.

This requires less cutting of the column and secures the results desiredmore easily.

The girders or trusses E are secured to the corner-posts in anyconvenient manner, as by bolts a, Figs. 6 and 7, and the floor-beams Fare secured to said girders. The sides and ends G of the room areadapted to be secured to the corner-posts in any convenient manner.

The posts are, say, ten feet in length. The girders or trusses E beingthree feet wide, the side walls G will consequently be seven feet high.Instead of covering a room with a flat roof, I use a roof which isnearly three feet high, and made in any desired shape that will notoccupy more space than is afforded under the floor beams of a room andbetween the girders E, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6.

That this may be the case, it is necessary, of course, that there be aninset or ledge in the side of the structure at the level of the top ofthe posts or that at which the roof proper begins. \Vhen, therefore, oneof these rooms is placed on the top of another, the lower ends of theposts-of the upper room will rest upon the tops of the posts of thelower room,'and the trusses E of the upper room will rest upon the saidledge or inset. hen two rooms are thus superposed, there will be a spaceof three feet from the top of the posts of the lower room to the floorof the room above, which space is inclosed by the trusses or girders E.lVithin this space are the floor-beams F of the upper room and the roofof the lower room, and the ceiling of the lower room, instead of beingflat, is carried up into the space under the roof, as shown by H inFigs. 1 and 6. By this means the only lost space in a structure composedof two superposed rooms is between the ceiling of the lower room and thefloor of the upper, which space is partly occupied by the floor-beams ofthe upper room and roof proper of the lower.

When a second room is to be placed over the first, the ends of the postsof the lower room, which just extend through the roof,- as, shown inFigs. 2 and 3, afford supports upon which the lower ends of the postsofthe upper room rest.

The ends of the posts of each room may be covered or protected in anyordinary and convenient manner, as by laying thereon thin fiat plates ofmetal or other material I.

The roof I prefer to make of corrugated overlapping metal sheets J,secured in any convenient side pieces K, which contain perforations Lwhen so desired. This form of roof provides an air-space over the top ofthe room and permits the beams of the room above to lie closer to thetop of the room below. From this it will be seen that the height of anyroom is the distance from the floor laid on the beams F to the ceiling Habove, so that when a second room is placed on the first the only lostspace in the structure is that from the ceiling II to the flooring ofthe next room. Thus, while each room is a complete structure in itself,any number of them may be associated with the minimum waste of space.

Each room is or may be provided with suitable doors and windows, andwhen a number of rooms are associated access may be had from one floorto the next by stairs, either within or outside the building, as may bedesired.

In the construction of my portable rooms I propose to make each partidentical and interchangeable with the like part in every other room.The construction shown socures the maximum strength with the minimum ofweight, and the construction is such that any intelligent person mayWithout trouble put together or take apart the structure.

The feature of the invention is that it providesa constant unit inbuilding, designed and constructed with reference to being in definitelycombined with like units, yet in itself embodying no more material orcost than is required for itself 'alone, and the only change that ismade in any room is by the addition of angle-irons to the corner-postsfrom the inside, as set forth".

The invention is particularly useful for new settlements, camps,seaside, and other temporary villages, fairs, and the like. The interiorarrangements, the means for gaining access to'the various rooms ofabuilding containing a number of the unit structures, and the like Ihave not described: in detail, as they do not form an essential part ofthe invention.

hat I claim is- 1. Astructure or building composed of two or moresuperposed separable unit structures or sections, each forming a housestructure in itself, and provided with a roof and floor, with a spaceunder the latter sufficient to admit the roof portion of anothersection, as set forth.

2. A dwelling or house structure composed of an assemblage of superposedunit structures or sections, each having an inset or ledge in the sidewalls near the top, a roof above the said ledge, and a space beneath thefloor to admit within the walls of one room the roof portion of thesection upon which it rests, as set forth.

3. The combination of two or more superposed unit structures, each beinga house structure complete in itself and each formed with an upperportion of reduced size, and a space under the flooring capable of accommodating the reduced portion of another unit structure, the top or roofof each structure being corrugated, whereby the floorbeams of asuperposed section will lie in the channels of the roof of the undersection, as set forth.

4. A supporting-column for portable sectional houses composed ofangle-posts restsaid posts for binding them together, as set ing orfitting one into another, in oombinaforth. tion with bolts for bindingthem together.

5. A supporting-column for portable sec- EDWARD POTTER 5 tional houses,composed of angle-posts rest- Witnesses:

ing 01' fitting one into another, in combina- ROBT. F. GAYLORD', tionwith bolts passing through the angles of ERNEST HOPKINSON.

